confused and frustrated

[needabreak]

Okay generally I can wrap my brain around figures but for some reason I am having a hard time understanding this. I put our rough figures into the means test wizard and came up with a result of this:

The presumption of abuse does not arise.

Your 60-month disposable income of $-64,687 is less than $6,575.

A little background is probably in order. A Chapter 13 is required for us since we had previously filed a Chapter 7 in 2002. Our income fluctuates through certain times of the year, from about April through October when my DH gets a lot of overtime at his job. Ideally we would like to wait until about December to file but I have 1 card that has not been paid for going on 10 months, so not sure we will have the option of waiting. Either way it is figured we won't be over the median income for Indiana, at least until they change it.

I'm just having a difficult time understanding these figures and would appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction as far as an explanation into what these numbers mean.

Maybe I'm just over thinking it, idk.

Thanks for any help,
Jo

[MSbklawyer]

It simply means that the allowed expenses on the means test are much higher than your income. If your income was exactly the same as the allowed expenses, your DI would be zero. Your income is lower than the allowed expenses, so you have a negative DI. Your chapter 13 payments should be zero. The 13 trustee is going to LUV you!!

[AngelinaCatHub]

needabreak, times are different now than in 2002. It saddens me that your "new Start" did not work out. The feast and famine type of job your hubby has should be banked then rationed equally through the year. This is what we are doing and it has worked for us "SO FAR". It is day by day for everyone it seems. I wish you good fortune on your 13. 'Hub

[justplaintired]

Your chapter 13 payments should be zero. The 13 trustee is going to LUV you!!

Now there's a plan I think anyone could handle, even me!

Just wanted to say hi to a fellow hoosier. I have learned so much on this site, and truely believe it made this whole process so much better. Spend some time here searching out info, I never came across a question that someone on here couldn't answer.

Which district are you in? I am Southern Indiana and had our 341 in Indy. Good luck with yours!

[needabreak]

I am also in Southern Indiana. Yes it saddens me that it didn't work out too but times change I guess. We have to make it work this time, we are just getting too dang old for this crap

[justbroke]

In a Chapter 13, your income fluctuating and trying to "time" your filing isn't going to help you like it does Chapter 7 filers. It's not going to matter because if your disposable monthly income is really that low ($-1,100/month).

Paying $0 to unsecured creditors is not all that important. Neither is the percentage. If your expenses are that negative, you'll probably need to make adjustments, because it means your debt load is too high even if you were paying the unsecured creditors nothing.

While my signature line says $5,380/month in payments, those payments are only my mortgage, 2 cars, and some IRS debt ($3K). I actually pay nothing ($0) to unsecured creditors. So I'm in the quintessential 0% plan. But your percent to unsecured creditors (or amount to unsecured creditors) does not tell the story.

The Trustee will not like you, only if you pay everything outside the plan. In that case, they make no money at all for managing your case. They will not like that.

Unless you are giving up some of your secured debt, I don't see how your plan will work when your expenses exceed your income by over $1,100/month. This would mean that you're still $1,000 plus in the hole each month, and your plan may be infeasible.

[needabreak]

See that's where my "confused" part comes in. We don't actually make that much money, because about 1200 dollars of that is my son's income. We "might" see about 100 dollars a month from him for groceries and such, but he is busy paying his own bills and working his way through school. I don't understand how all that works.

The only secured debt we have is our house, which is current, and 2 vehicles which it always seems we are month behind on constantly. The rest of our debt is unsecured to the tune of about 25,000.

On one means test we took we have about 350 dollars a month DMI but on the means wizard, the figure above is what it gave me. That's what my brain just can't wrap around.